On October 20th, the 2024 Gree-Tour of Guangxi Road Cycling World Tour held its sixth and final stage. After five laps covering a total of 134.3 kilometers, a large group sprint brought the race to an exciting conclusion, with Matevž Govekar of Bahrain Victorious winning the stage.
Lennert Van Eetvelt of Lotto Dstny ultimately claimed the overall victory; Oscar Onley of the DSM Team secured second place in the overall standings; and Alex Baudin of the Decathlon-Ag2r team took third place overall.
The distance of this stage is 134.3 kilometers, with each lap being 27.3 kilometers, and the riders will circle 5 laps. There are two intermediate sprints located at 52.4 kilometers and 107 kilometers after the start.
At 2:15 PM, the starting ceremony for the sixth stage of the 2024 Gree Tour of Guangxi was held at the Guangxi Cultural and Art Center. This stage is entirely within the city of Nanning.
Nanning, the capital city where multiple ethnic groups such as Zhuang, Han, Yao, Miao, and Dong cohabit, is known as "China's Green City." It has won the UN-Habitat Award and titles such as National Civilized City, National Ecological Garden City, National Sanitary City, National Forest City, and China Excellent Tourism City. Nanning holds a significant geographical advantage as it is an important node in the "Belt and Road Initiative," located at the intersection of the South China Economic Circle, Southwest Economic Circle, and China-ASEAN Economic Circle, and is the provincial capital closest to ASEAN countries. As the permanent venue for the China-ASEAN Expo, Nanning is currently accelerating its development into an international metropolis focusing on openness and cooperation with ASEAN, striving to write a new chapter in Chinese-style modernization for Nanning.
Today was the last chance for all riders, so frequent breakaways occurred soon after the race started. After some pulling and selection, a stable breakaway group of six riders was eventually formed.
Tim Wellens from UAE Team Emirates, who is second in the climbing points standings, was in the breakaway group, and his attacks could potentially change the fate of the polka-dot jersey. The other five breakaway riders were Tosh Van der Sande from Jumbo-Visma, Stan Dewulf from AG2R Citroën Team, Esteban Chaves from EF Education-EasyPost, Michael Leonard from INEOS Grenadiers, and Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier from Lidl-Trek.
Today's race pace was very fast, with the average speed reaching 45 kilometers per hour at one point. Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s Pepijn Reinderink, who wears the polka-dot jersey, fell behind into the third group. However, since the breakaway riders' points for climbing and sprints were quite scattered today, Pepijn Reinderink's polka-dot jersey remained unshaken.
In the end, the breakaway riders could not withstand the relentless pursuit of the chasing group, and the stage concluded with a bunch sprint. Bahrain Victorious held a numerical advantage at the front of the peloton, and Matevž Govekar seized the perfect sprinting opportunity before the finish line to claim the stage victory.
After this stage, the ownership of the various leader jerseys has finally been settled:
Lotto Soudal's Lennert Van Eetvelt claimed the Gree Red Leader's Jersey, symbolizing the overall winner, as well as the Li-Ning White Leader's Jersey for the best young rider, thanks to his excellent performance in the Nongla climb.
Israel-Premier Tech's Ethan Vernon, with two-stage sprint victories, secured the Wanda Hotel & Resorts Blue Leader's Jersey, symbolizing the sprint king.
Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl’s Pepijn Reinderink ultimately took the Baisui Mountain Polka-Dot Jersey, symbolizing the king of the mountains.
UAE Team Emirates' rider Tim Wellens received the Combativeness Award for this stage.
With this, all 6 stages of the 2024 Gree-Guangxi World Tour Race have concluded. Over the past 6 days, the riders' wheels have sped across the hot land of Guangxi, leaving their marks in places such as Chongzuo, Jingxi, Bama, Jinchengjiang, Yizhou, Nongla, and Nanning. Their efforts have been witnessed on flatlands, hills, and mountains, with 1021.8 kilometers of competition bringing countless exciting moments to the audience. Although the race has ended, the stories of the Guangxi Tour continue to spread among cycling fans.
Next year, let's meet again in Guangxi, see you then!
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